Bondi Rescue: Five amazing segments from show hit by scandal allegations

FOR more than a decade, Bondi’s finest have kept us entertained and enthralled with all manner of moments, from the emotionally wrought to the humorous. Here are five of their most memorable.

The heart-stopping moment when Bondi Rescue team member ‘Mouse’ brought ashore an unconscious toddler he was giving CPR.

• Bondi Rescue stars turn on boss ‘Hoppo’

FOR more than a decade, Bondi’s finest have kept us entertained and enthralled with all manner of moments, from the emotionally wrought to the humorous. Here are five of their most memorable.

And it’s not just on the shores where they star — the series has been warmly received in television markets around the world including the US, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Denmark and most recently Hong Kong.

The show has made headlines for the wrong reasons this week when leaked documents alleged the popular reality show was embroiled in scandal.

Meantime, here are five engaging moments from the show’s decade.

TWO-YEAR-OLD’S RESCUE

Viewers held their breaths when “a little blob” was spotted beyond waves one morning at Bronte Beach, and a mother’s anguished cries suddenly filled the air. By the time “Mouse” (Michael Jenkinson) from the team reached her, she was beginning to disappear into the swell. When he pulled her out, she had turned blue. He began CPR immediately. “I gave her two breaths; she just went from being blue and doing nothing to a little cough and a little eye flicker. Then she started crying, and I started crying. And then we had, like, a little hug ... and I took her in.” Looking around, the team also rescued the girl’s father, who had been in danger himself.

STRIFE OUTSIDE THE FLAGS

A man signals desperately from a deep gutter that his friend is in big trouble, being swept out and going under. Corey leapt in on his board and pulled the exhausted teenager to safety. As the first swimmer is rescued, another gets into difficulty in the same gutter and becomes the subject of a separate rescue. The first swimmer brings up seawater in the shallows and later admits to camera that he is not a swimmer at all “but the guys encourage me”. The team later takes to the area with a bullhorn, telling bathers not to venture into the water outside the flags — a well-worn lesson, as any lifesaver will tell you.

SSSSSWELL DAY FOR IT ...

When lifesavers say they want everyone swimming between the flags, they generally aren’t referring to venomous sea snakes, but sometimes nature just takes its courssssse ... “Mate, I am that scared of snakes, so glad I’m not down there,” Chappo says on the two-way radio. “I thought it was a bit of seaweed at first — thought it was dead but its head popped up,” says a bather. Anxiety heightens with research coming through that there is no antidote for a sea snake bite. Lifesaver Bacon decides to take matters into his own hands, which is when things got interesting.

SMASHED BY BLUEBOTTLES

It’s probably the worst day for it: Hundreds of swimmers are belting away off Bondi in the Ocean Classic when the call comes: Get them out of the water. A swarm of stingers has come in on the nor’-easter and people need moving. But not everyone is going to make it onto a rubber duckie. “It was like the Titanic had sunk out there at one stage — they were basically walking on water trying to get out,” notes one of the team. Among the more severe cases is a 16-year-old boy who is taken to the tower suffering abdominal pain and is given oxygen.

BIRTHDAY SUITS AT CHRISTMAS

They’re drunk, they’re wearing Santa hats and sunnies — and not much else ... and they need help being rescued. No, they really, really do. We could say the boys are embarrassed — and they possibly could be. But right now, it’s late in the day and right in the middle of the festive season, and seriously, tragedy could ensue if someone doesn’t get a grip. So the team are pretty much lining up for this potentially nasty job. “Did you say ‘nude’?”